Facebook killer video scam spreads between social networkers

A new scam has spread quickly across Facebook this weekend, pretending to be a link to a TV news report about an alleged Facebook killer.

Here’s a typical message that has been seen spreading between social networking users:

(BREAKING NEWS) Facebook-Killer
[LINK] 07-29-2011 – News гepoгts of a maп they are calling the ‘Facebook Killer’ have ƍone ramрant, he has claimed 9 lives in the United States so far that we ᴋnow

Other variants of the scam read:

(CNN) The Facebook-Killer
[LINK] ‎07-29-2011 – News reporтs of a man tһey are calling tһe ‘Facebook Killer’ have ɡone rampant, he hаs claimed 9 lives in tһe Uniтed Sтaтes so far thαt we know ..

Clicking on one of the links will take you, not to a genuine TV news report from the likes of CNN, but to a fake YouTube webpage instead, where you are tricked into sharing the link further with your online friends….

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the cybersecurity industry, having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Bluesky, or drop him an email.